When the Okanagan Indigenous Music and Arts Society put out a call for an opportunity to paint a mural on the Kelowna Gospel Mission, Syilx artist Sheldon Pierre Louis knew he wanted to pitch a design, but he wasn乌鸦传媒檛 entirely sure what that design would be.
Then, one night, his partner Csetkwe had a dream about Louis乌鸦传媒檚 aunty Lucy, an Okanagan artist who Louis credited as a major inspiration in his life.
乌鸦传媒淢y aunty Lucy, she always supported me and looked on from afar as I was becoming a young artist. She always loved seeing my artwork and what I did,乌鸦传媒� said Louis.
In Csetkwe乌鸦传媒檚 dream, Louis said that his aunty told him that he needs to paint salmon, an animal that is a primary food mainstay of the Syilx Okanagan people that has become central to their culture and trade traditions.
For 10 years, Louis said that salmon has been a central component of his work, using his art to draw attention to environmental impacts on salmon and the Columbia River.
乌鸦传媒淚 still struggled with it. I乌鸦传媒檝e created so many salmon pieces. How is a salmon piece going to fit in the downtown core?乌鸦传媒� he said.
As he thought more about it, he decided that his design would be more than just salmon 乌鸦传媒� it would be a memorial piece dedicated to his aunty. He looked back at old video footage of her reflecting on her work at the Round Lake Treatment Centre, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre located in Okanagan Indian Band (OKIB) territory.
READ MORE: Syilx artist selected as winner of Kelowna Gospel Mission乌鸦传媒檚 mural project
乌鸦传媒淪he went to work, and her and my uncle, that kind of became their life. Helping to heal people, helping them move out of alcoholism and drug addictions,乌鸦传媒� said Louis. 乌鸦传媒淭hat was a part of her early life. That kind of relates to the wording, the k史u mr虛imstn - we are medicine. It乌鸦传媒檚 kind of a reminder that each of us are medicine.乌鸦传媒�
He also had a vision of incorporating fellow OKIB community member and artist Billie Kruger into the design, drawing inspiration from an image of her releasing salmon into the waterway. He reached out to Kruger and pitched the idea to her, which she welcomed.
As it turns out, Kruger was friends with aunty Lucy, something Louis wasn乌鸦传媒檛 aware of until Kruger told him.
乌鸦传媒淚 didn乌鸦传媒檛 understand why, at the time, I wanted to put her in this mural,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淏ut now that she shared this story about aunty Lucy, by all means, she needs to be part of this mural.乌鸦传媒�
With aunty Lucy as the design乌鸦传媒檚 centrepiece, Louis formulated an idea to capture three Indigenous women in three different stages of their lives in the mural. His niece, Irene, was the third piece of the puzzle.
乌鸦传媒淭his photo was of my niece wearing this old, kinda grandma-looking sweater and a ribbon skirt. She looked like a little grandma, basically,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淎 little, young grandma. It乌鸦传媒檚 a perfect image.乌鸦传媒�
Coincidentally, baby Irene was named after Louis乌鸦传媒檚 grandmother, who happened to be the aunt to aunty Lucy.
乌鸦传媒淚t seemed like a coincidence, but not quite a coincidence that all those pieces seemed to come together in the way they did,乌鸦传媒� he said.
In his design, he featured the faces of two tuma (grandmother) spirits behind the three women watching over them.
乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 a bit of a contrast of the old and the new grandmother spirits that are watching over those women, watching over and being caregivers over the land and the language,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淎lso, just looking over those people who are living on the streets and watching over them as well.乌鸦传媒�
Written twice on the design is 乌鸦传媒渨e are medicine乌鸦传媒� 乌鸦传媒� once in Nsyilxc蓹n and again in English.
乌鸦传媒淢y grandfather 乌鸦传媒� he never taught his kids or us grandkids the language. He regretted it in his final years,乌鸦传媒� said Louis.
乌鸦传媒淗e said any little bit of your language that you know 乌鸦传媒� it doesn乌鸦传媒檛 matter if it乌鸦传媒檚 three, five words or more 乌鸦传媒� he said you make sure you always use it in whatever way and whenever you can.乌鸦传媒�
While 乌鸦传媒渨e are medicine乌鸦传媒� speaks to aunt Lucy乌鸦传媒檚 work at the Round Lake Treatment Centre, Louis said it also speaks to missing and murdered Indigenous women and Two-Spirit people.
乌鸦传媒淭he whole crisis that乌鸦传媒檚 surrounding that, I wanted to also give a reminder that our women are medicine. They乌鸦传媒檙e important. We need to protect them,乌鸦传媒� he said.
Salmon lined the design乌鸦传媒檚 border, which he said speaks to the resiliency of the Syilx people, their language and their land.
In April, Louis乌鸦传媒檚 design, titled 乌鸦传媒渒史u mr虛imstn - we are medicine,乌鸦传媒� was selected as the winning concept for the Gospel Mission乌鸦传媒檚 mural project. He got to work on the art piece at the end of August, spending a total of 15 days over a three-week period painting the design.
Each day would last around six to eight hours, where he would slowly piece together the design on the 25 ft. by 100 ft. wall. But during the first week of undertaking the painting, he was living in a hotel after being evacuated due to the White Rock Lake wildfire on Aug. 4.
乌鸦传媒淚 spent a week in a hotel in Westbank at that time, separated from community and family. At that time, it was more of, 乌鸦传媒業 had to push through this,乌鸦传媒櫸谘淮綕 said Louis, who乌鸦传媒檚 also a councillor on the OKIB乌鸦传媒檚 band council.
It wasn乌鸦传媒檛 until Sept. 4 when he was able to go back to his Vernon home.
乌鸦传媒淚 really had to try and manage my emotional state as best as I could. Doing that work as an artist, you乌鸦传媒檙e putting a piece of yourself into that,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淚 had to be very careful when I was on that wall that my mind and my heart weren乌鸦传媒檛 in a place of stress and worry around the fires.乌鸦传媒�
He wrapped up painting the mural on Sept. 12, adding the final salmon touches to the bottom of the mural, after initially deciding against it the day before.
乌鸦传媒淲hen I decided to go do it, it was the two-year anniversary of aunt Lucy乌鸦传媒檚 passing,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檓 really grateful that I did go back to add those salmon because it creates much more of a connection and much more of a memory of her to it.乌鸦传媒�
After bringing the mural to life, he described the experience of being able actually to see his finished work as amazing.
乌鸦传媒淓ven though we were going through a very tough and stressful time, to come through that and still be able to put something so beautiful like that, so representative of our people and nation, it really helped to uplift obviously some of the people in our community here that were dealing with the evacuation,乌鸦传媒� he said.
乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 been received very well from our nation members. They always remind me that the work I乌鸦传媒檓 doing out there is important. It乌鸦传媒檚 representing us, showcasing us, reminding the people they live in Syilx territory.乌鸦传媒�
READ MORE: Strengthening Syilx women乌鸦传媒檚 identities, ties to the land
aaron.hemens@kelownacapnews.com
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